Knob attachment



(No Model.) T v H. W. LIBBEY.

KNOB ATTACHMENT.

No. 598,426. Patented Feb. 1, 1898.'

PATENT rricn,

nosEA w. LIBBEY, or Bos'ToN, MASSACHUSETTS.

KNOB ATTACHM ENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 598,426, dated February1, 1898i.

Application led January 15, 1896. Serial No. 575,551. (No model.) i

To a/ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, I-IOsEA W. LIBBEY,a citizen of the United States,residing at Boston, in the countyl of Suifolk and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in DoorKnobs and Spindles, of which the following, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, is a specication.

Door-knobs as usually constructed are attached to the spindle by meansof a screw, which, by the constant jar of the door, soon works loose andif not tightened up falls out and is often lost, thus rendering saidknob useless.

Now the object of my invention is to overcome this defect by so securingthe knob to the spindle that it cannot of itself become detached, butcan, if desired, be readily removed.

rIhe invention consists of a knob provided with a peculiarly-recessedshank or handle; also, of a spring having a pin at its free end, saidspring being secured in one of the recesses in the handle-shank and in aspindle having ratchet-teeth or small holes to receive the end of thepin on the spring, as hereinafter fully described, and pointed out inthe claim.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents alongitudinal section through a pair of handles and a spindle embodyingmy invention. Fig; 2 is a vertical section taken on line :c :c of Fig.l. Fig. 8 is a sectionof a handle and spindle and of a modification.

A represents Va square spindle, one or more of its sides being formedwith ratchet-teeth a.

B B are escutcheons to be secured to the door-frame, and C C are thehandles, the stems c c of which are recessed out, and in each of saidrecesses is placed a i'iat spring D, rounded at the top to conform toand be flush with the shanks a. said spring is secured to a pin or studc,formed in one with the stein c, and passing through a countersunk holein the spring D is then riveted over, thus holding the spring D inplace. The free end of said-spring is formed with a pin d, the lower endof which is cut on an angle corresponding to the angle of theratchet-teeth in the spindle.

rPhe outer end of In order to secure the knob to the spindle, all thathas to be done is to place the shank of the. knob on the spindle andpress it in. The pin will thus ride over the ratchet-teeth 'in thespindle until the end of the shank comes into contact with theescutcheons, the

pin being by the spring caused to fit into the nearest ratchet-tooth.Thus the knob is held iirmly thereto.

In order to release the knob, if required, the end of a penknife orother suitable instrument is inserted under the free end of the spring,(a small space being left for same, as shown,) and the spring is raisedup7 carrying with it the pin and raising it out of contact with theratchet-teeth of the spindle, when the knob can be withdrawn.

In Fig. 3 I have shown a modification. In this case the spindle isformed on one or more of its sides with small holes d', and the spring Dis provided with a pin d, adapted tot in to said holes. Otherwise theoperation is as before described.

It will be seen that by this construction a door-knob can easily andreadily be secured to its spindle, nothing being required but topush'the said knob onto the spindle, the pin by means of the springbeing free to ride over the ratchet-teeth in the spindle, and takinginto one of them is firmly held, so that the knob cannot be withdrawnbut should it be desired to release the knob the free end of said springcan be raised by any suitable instrument, thus withdrawing the pin fromthe ratchet-teetl1,when the knob can be pulled off.

With reference to the modification shown in Fig. 3 the operation ispractically the same, except that the spring must be upheld while theknob is being placed in posit-ion or removed from the spindle, or elsethe spring would force the pin into each and every hole in the spindle,and the spring would have to be raised each time to release the same.

WhatV I claim is-- In combination with a door-knob, the shank of whichis provided with an interior and an exterior recess and a perforationleading from one recess to the other and having an integral studprojecting radially from one end of the exterior recess, of ar spindleprojecting into the interior recess, the surface of which is notched anda spring in the exterior recess,

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one end of which is provided with a hole to flt over the stud and thefree end is provided In testimony whereof I have signed my name to thisspecification, in the presence of Io with a pin which proj eets throughthe opening two subseribingwitnesses, 0n this 177 th day of in the shankand engages With the notched surface of the spindle, the exterior ofsaid springbeing rounded and lying even with the urflzltoe of the shank,substantially as set ort October, A. D. 1895. I-IOSEA W. LIBBEY.Witnesses:

p CHAs. STEERE,

EDWIN PLANTA.

